Saturday, 28 May 2016

As I have finally finished ALL of the Pacific War figures (last lot was a batch of Generals) I feel I can start something new. Okay, so there's still a load of El Cid stuff to do, but ignoring my own advice I reckon I can start something new.

As I mentioned a couple of blogs back I've acquired some 6mm 1914 armies from Pete Berry at Baccus. I could hardly wait to get stuck into my little Frenchies in their pantalons rouge.

Actually, to be honest, I needed to try out my basing ideas to see if I've got them right. Also I need to try out some painting styles to work out how I'm going to do these.

Pete gave me some advice but it was all about washes and undercoating in different colours and I like black undercoating and dry brushing. Having said that the French are more difficult to do than the Brits & the Germans as they have different coloured trousers and kepis, whereas the other two's uniforms are, well, more uniform.

One of the aims is to make it really clear what everything is. It is possible to mix up things like MGs & infantry at a distance.

The infantry are on 15mm square 2mm mdf. I've got two figures on a base. The bases are finished off with PVA glue and sand. These figures are the advancing ones, all ready for a bayonet charge.

Pete also does some firing figures. Had a bit of an issue with the photos here. I'm using extension tubes on my DSLR to get in close, but I'm having problems with the depth of field and focussing. And the light wasn't quite right either.

The real jewels in the crown are the artillery pieces. These are the famous French Soixante-Quinze. The guns are a single casting and the detail and proportions on them are stunning. These are based on 20mm squares.

The MGs are the Hotchkiss variety and come on a round base. The base is about the same size as a penny, which is the same depth all in as a 2mm mdf base, so job's a good 'un.

The figures are intended to be used with the Op14 rules which work at a Corps level. This pictures is of a French Corps, almost. The four bases of infantry each represent a brigade, so this is a two division Corps. The three guns are an Artillery Regiment. I really need one more. The MGs are used to represent when a brigade has been fully deployed. I need to add an HQ base. That'll probably be on a 2p piece, or a 30mm square.

Friday, 27 May 2016

How time flies! Eighteen months ago I posted a couple of blogs about refighting Cannae using DBA3.0. You can find the posts here and here.

The Purple Cover matches the DBA rulebook

The reason for doing this was to do a battle write up for a book showing how you could fight the Great Battles of History, using DBA3.0. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went, wrote the thing up and fired it off to the editor. Then sat and waited. Unlike most of the other contributors to the book I'd used my standard toys and terrain. Most of the others did new armies and constructed purpose built terrain. That all took much longer than expected, and so the book didn't come out when expected, in early 2015. However, it's now done, and it looks rather good. Well worth the wait.

It's a good list, covering a wide range of battles in both chronology and type. There are infantry and cavalry battles as well as more balanced armies. We're already considering a second volume. The absence of a big Successor battle looks like an open goal for me.

All of the games use multiple armies, rather than just sticking to the 12 element formula, and all have given good consideration of any special scenario rules. The authors are all, bar me, members of the DBA3 testing team, so they know their stuff in respect of the rules. I got pulled in because Phil felt the book would benefit from having a 20mm plastic game in it, plus NOT ONE WAS DOING HANNIBAL, which was a bit of an omision for a Great Battles of Ancient History themed book.

If you want a hardcopy, then you can buy it direct from the printer, Lulu here. Profits from the venture go to the Society of Ancients, so it's all in a good cause. Early sales have been encouraging, so don't end up being the last person to get one.

As for fame...well the only battle singled out for comment on the Fanaticus on-line review was mine. So I'm revelling in that.

Admittedly there wasn't anything about how brilliant the write up was, but it was mentioned.

Monday, 23 May 2016

I haven’t done a show for a while. I missed Campaign in early May and what with my next usual show being Derby in October I was in the market for a visit. The next show due in the calendar was Partizan in Newark, so that looked promising, despite its reputation for favouring the larger sized figure.

Phil was registered in as a stand for the Society of Ancients and also the Northampton Battlefields Society, so as a committee member of the latter I offered my services. Even though it meant an early start on a Sunday morning.

This is the first show at the new venue. It is sad to be leaving Kelham Hall which had a lot of character. There were lots of nooks and crannies and you never knew what you were going to stumble on next. I suspect this was not to a lot of people’s taste. Plus the lighting was always awful and the parking could be a bit dodgy. And it could be a long trek into the display halls.

The show is now at the Newark Showground, a converted RAF base. It’s easier to get to off the A1 and it’s also in a purpose built show venue. Basically a big warehouse like the one at Donnington where they do the Derby show. It means it is light and well laid out, with good big doors you can reverse your car/van up to when loading or unloading. Parking is better as well, apart from the mindless jerks who insist on parking in Disabled Spaces when they don’t have a blue badge.

After a couple of slight issues Phil & I got there a little later than expected. This meant that our other helpers were already on site to carry in the display materials.

For this show Phil had put together a couple of display tables in addition to the magazines and games we also sell for the SoA. The Northampton Battlefield Society has a collection of weaponry and the new book on the Battle of Northampton to sell as well, so we take up some space.

The two display tables were the static display of Naseby (yes, we cover the Naseby Battlefield Trust as well) and a new table that Phil has done for the Battle of Edgecote. This latter was played as a game, with Phil & Chris running the scenario with “L’Arte de La Guerre”, a rule set with which I am not familiar. Both pronounced they were pleased with the outcome, so that was one good thing out of the day.

Edgecote Field

The Yorkists

The Rebels

We had a steady flow of people past the stand but it was never really busy. The layout didn’t do us any favours as we like to put the society stands next to the games. That increases the stop-and-chat flow, increasing our chances of signing up new members and also meaning we don’t need to be in two places at once.

Me, getting excited about Naseby

I had a few good conversations about Naseby and the joy of battlefield visits in Northamptonshire and also spread the word about the threat to the battlefield in Northampton. We sold out of our book, so that was also good news.

My agenda for the day was to pick up some toys from Mr Baccus, some books from Dave Lanchester, a board game or two and play in Simon Miller’s “To the Strongest” with a view to purchasing the rules.

As it turned out I managed two out of the four.

My first call of the day was to Pete Berry at Baccus. Pete is an old friend (like 30+ years old friend) and one of the most interesting thinkers in the hobby. He is always working on something new. On this occasion I wanted to pick up some 1914 period figures for a new project. I’ve been humming and hawing about this for months if not over a year and have finally taken the plunge. I hope I’ve got this one right. I’d hate it to end up in the pile of “Uninspiring Stories” as I couldn’t face telling Pete both that I didn’t really love what I’d got and also that I couldn’t make the project work. Pete was really pleased to see someone buy a 1914 French Army, seeing as they did most of the fighting, so that's a further incentive to make a go of the project.

And they have red trousers. The French, that is.

With the speed I paint I might have something for Pete’s “Joy of 6” show next year.

Dave’s bookstall is always a terrific browse. You never know what you are going to find and he’s another genuinely nice bloke. On this occasion I found a book on the Alsace/Lorraine campaign. Perfect for my newly acquired 1914 armies. I searched in vain for the Osprey on the WW1 French Army and thought I’d leave empty handed on that front only for Dave to turn up with it right at the end of the day. That’s customer service.

Alas my quest for boardgames was still born due to the complete lack of any board game vendors, which was a bit of a surprise.

Simon Miller's game was in full swing by the time I got to it. Lots of toy soldiers and a table with one of the most discretely marked grids you could imagine.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to spare enough time to follow the game completely although it seemed to move quickly and the players looked engrossed in it. Using playing cards means there's clutter on the table, and there seemed to be a need for a few too many markers. I'm no stranger to either of these in game design, but I couldn't square their use with the otherwise really pleasant aesthetic of the game.

A quick flick through the rules didn't help me; too many pictures and glossiness to pick up quickly from a casual read. I need to seek this out again at some point before I dismiss it completely.

Elsewhere there was a lot of 28mm stuff all done to the same standard and the same style. A few games stood out to me as being a bit more original.

I loved the look of this enormous age of sail naval game, which seemed to have got most of what you'd want in a game of this type right.

I liked the ships too.

The biggest surprise of the day was a game put on by two old Brixcon AK47 Republic friends, Pauls Hooper & Mileham from Great Yarmouth. Every so often you see something striking and unique. this is one of those.

Armies made out of clothes pegs.

It was all semi-flat, down to the slotted pine trees.

Lots of different troop types, including these Kilties.

Liked the look of the cavalry too.

And don't forget the native auxiliaries.

Finally my chums from WD's Display Group North were doing their Roman Senator game, which I hope to catch up with a CoW. Not much to look at, but a jolly good time seemed to be being had by all.

Monday, 16 May 2016

I sometimes wonder if Phil Barker is any good at DBA. I mean he wrote the rules, so he must know how they work and what you're supposed to do, so I suppose he must be. I've known him now for over 30 years and never seen him play it, so I'm just guessing.

I only mention it as I'm not sure if I'm any good at the rules I write. I mostly umpire people playing them rather than play myself and often when I do play them and try to do what you're supposed to do they don't quite work out for me.

I also wonder if he remembers all the rules he's written, too. Probably only the current ones. I can't remember them when I'm writing them. Chris A is good at reminding me I've forgotten something I've written.

Anyway, I've been away for a while, as referenced in the previous blog, and I hadn't played the Peru/Chile rules for a while before that either. Luckily I was off work Thursday, and Phil as free, so we squeezed a game in during the afternoon.

I wanted to get through as many moves as possible and also really try out the close assault rules. I therefore set up a one division v one division game and took the Chileans to attack with.

I also discovered some settings on my camera that enabled me to increase the depth of field in the pictures (ie get more stuff in focus) so I tried that out too. Alas the lighting in Shedquarters was a bit odd and I couldn't get as bright a set of pictures as I wanted.

Here's a shot of the advancing Chilean forces. This is one of my pre-game shots when I was fiddling about with the depth of field.

This picture shows I might have got it right. Both the head and the tail of the column are in focus, which I normally can't do. Anyway, now on with the game.

These are my Chileans advancing rapidly towards the bridge and road the Peruvians are defending. My aim here was to close the distance and close assault as quickly as I could to test the close combat rules.

Phil countered by charging my cavalry screen. I reacted by forming a double infantry line to enable me to shoot them off if my cavalry shouldn't survive.

Which they didn't.

Phil threatened me with his cavalry for a turn, but they soon retired. Notice how both infantry and cavalry are nicely in focus.

Having seen the cavalry off, I formed up into Attack Columns and advanced. Phil countered by deploying into firing lines. My artillery were deployed on a hill to my rear and were unable to hit anything.

I eventually managed to get one column to charge home and force a Peruvian unit back, but I didn't break it. Elsewhere I'd taken so much disorder advancing that my attacks were ineffective.

Meanwhile Phil circled round with his cavalry and occupied the hacienda on my right flank.

My attack had pretty much broken down now. It was at this point I discovered I was using an out of date playsheet. Not that it would have made much difference.

Phil even managed to deploy his gatling gun on the bridge, but by that point I'd given up the ghost.

So.....not exactly a complete disaster. Found a couple more bugs in the core rules that I've got to smooth out, and I need to delete the out of date QRS file.

However I need to revisit the melee rules. The next day I reset the figures and ran through the assault again using the up to date rules and deploying a skirmisher screen to absorb the fire and protect the attack columns. It sort of worked, but didn't look right.

I fear I have a problem here. The game is giving me a good late 19th century European simulation, but it's not very Latin American. The melee rules are letting me down. I've got some clunky "superior formation" modifier in there and I'm trying to force the mechanism I use for the SCW into the rules because I like it. That's not a good enough reason.

I've had a few ideas since, but I need to work out the wrinkles. I possibly need to go back to the sources again and try to work out exactly why the Chileans could close assault and win against what should be withering fire and the Peruvians mostly couldn't.

Hmm.

BTW I'll be at Newark this weekend on the SoA / Northamptonshire Battlefields Society stand. Stop by and say hello.

Monday, 9 May 2016

The blog has been quiet for a little while as I’ve been out
of the country with Mrs T. We got back early last week, but there were tasks to
be done, lawns to be mowed and a job to go to so no chance to sit down at the
key board.

We’ve been in Cuba on a tour, visiting the western half of
the island and covering the areas haunted by Hemingway. Like a lot of Europeans
we thought we’d get in the trip “before the Americans arrive”. This wasn’t
expected to be a military history tour de force and whilst I picked up some
items for the hat shelf I didn’t and don’t intend to plunge into the Wars of
Independence or the Revolutionary War.

However, like most wargamers, I’m partial to an armoured
train. Consequently I got moderately excited when I saw that our itinerary
included a trip to Santa Clara to visit the Armoured Train monument.

The attack on the armoured train in Santa Clara effectively marked the
end of the war against Castro’s revolutionaries for Batista and his
forces. It was undertaken by troops under the command of Che Guevara although
he wasn’t there personally. You can argue round the houses about whether he
masterminded the victory or whether it was one of his subordinates. However, it
happened on his watch and if it had gone wrong he’d have taken the blame, so I
guess he gets the credit too.

The story goes like this. Batista sets up an armoured train
and mans it with 400 of his best troops (they always say things like this; why
would he have put 400 useless troops in it?). It is protected by .50 cal MGs
and anti-aircraft gun, presumably deployed in ground attack mode, in best “AK47
Republic” style. This wonder weapon would give the forces strategic movement,
protection and the power to intimidate the local population and the lightly
armed revolutionaries.

Like many of these grandiose plans that have the air of the
last roll of the dice it didn’t have the desired effect. Guevara’s forces
derailed it with a bulldozer then chucked bundles of grenades underneath it to
disable it further. In the event that this tactic failed they had a locomotive
packed with explosives they were going to run into it.

As it turned out the initial plan worked and the 400 men in
the train surrendered to 13 revolutionaries. Or 25, depending on who you believe. I'm going with the 20 or so, as their names were listed in one of the cars:-

The memorial to the attack in Santa Clara is worth a visit
if you’re ever there. It is strikingly Cuban in its execution, combining
Revolutionary triumphalism and artistic interpretation.

On approaching the site the first thing you see is the big
yellow bulldozer, mounted on a concrete plinth. It looked to me at the time to
be one of the best preserved pieces of industrial equipment anywhere on the
island. It certainly looked freshly painted, which is more than you can say for
a number of things on the island.

The memorial is next to the railway line and consists of a
number of box cars and a flat bed. The actual engine itself isn’t there, -
presumably too valuable a piece of equipment to leave lying around. Our guide,
who was otherwise very good, was unable to tell us where the locomotive is. The
guide books are fairly sniffy about the location of the memorial because it is next to a
railway line and a busy road, however seeing as that’s where it all happened
that’s where the memorial needs to be.

The whole thing is dominated by a white
concrete structure which is an artistic representation of an explosion. One of
the box cars has an art gallery in it. Very Cuban.

The Green Markers highlight the bullet holes

As far as I can make out it was more of a mobile command
post with bodyguards than an armoured train as most of us would understand it.
It had a number of drawbacks. First up, the floor is made of wood, hence the
effectiveness of throwing grenades or molotovs underneath it.

One of the troop cars. Note the wooden planking floor.

Secondly the defensive armour isn’t something to trust your
life too. It consists of two steel/iron sheets with an infill of wet sand to
stop spalling inside the cars.

Thirdly there don’t seem to be any firing ports.
You have to slide open the doors in order to fire. Finally the flat bed with
the AA guns on it doesn’t have folding sides so you can’t depress the barrels
to fire at targets on the ground.

I suspect I’m being unfair, but you wouldn’t get me inside
it.

So it really is no surprise that the occupants took the
first opportunity to surrender when the whole thing feel off the track.

The whole thing is commemorated on the reverse of the Three Convertible Cuban Peso Banknote.

Yes, the Cubans have a three denomination note. It was introduced so they'd have a note to put Che on.

About Me

I have been a wargamer as long as I can remember, pretty much.
My interests spread pretty generally across the entire historical period. I mostly prefer to develop and use my own rules. As such I've been a member of Wargames Developments since the early 80's.
I do use commercially available rules and have a large collection, - many of which have been played. I've been fond of the RFCM approach from Peter Pig in the past, and I make a lot of use of Neil Thomas' rules. They always seem a good place to start.